Our flagship 10 Days of Data event series has finished for another year! Over 10 days, we had 10 90-minute bite-sized events each exploring the power of data and insights.
We brought together more than 1000 people to listen to inspirational speakers, from both the social housing sector and global brands including GymShark and Formula1, to provide insight into how they use data to become successful organisations.
Back bigger and better this year, the event series was a huge success, but don’t take our word for it…here’s what some of our attendees had to say:
“Very interesting to get more insight into how various data can be integrated and used intelligently”
“Good to hear from such an inspirational speaker and from a very different perspective”
“A great opportunity to listen to very relevant, strategic issues for HAs – the information was very digestible and had practical application too”
Each event touched on unique perspectives, with tangible takeaways to put into action and exciting content to feel inspired by. Here are our top ten takeaways we’ve wrapped up from the events:
1.Creating a data-driven culture is important for business success
There are no limits to what you can do when you consider a data driven approach, but it’s important that everyone buys into the concept and is brought on your data journey. Creating a data driven culture needs to start from the top and leaders need to be the role models for the importance of data. Some top tips for leaders are – own the data when the data is good enough, address quality issues, understand the context, engage with staff and ask the right questions.
- Everyone in your business should be data literate
Everyone across the business should be data literate, confident using data and understand the difference it can make to their residents’ lives. Whatever stage you’re at on your data journey, we have data training courses to suit all data literacy levels, so everyone can feel confident utilising and interpreting data. Find out more here.
- How to measure success? Look closer at your KPIs
Ensure that your key performance indicators (KPIs) are closely linked to your strategy and think about the things that really matter. Don’t drown in data – identify the main KPIs and don’t get lost in them and lose the real human interest/journeys. Have a one team approach to achieving these and ensure that roles and responsibilities are clear so that everyone can play their part in meeting these KPI’s.
- Use data to help you achieve sustainability goals
There’s a wealth of benefits to implementing a sustainability strategy, including better value for money, reduced insurance premiums, water bills, supply chain costs, vehicle costs, winning bids for external work, greater staff retention and it can help to reduce retrofit costs down the line. You can only achieve net zero if you have collaboration throughout your organisation. Use data to establish a shared understanding of where you are and where you want to be.
- Consider your data may be biased
Data is not always neutral and objective. Algorithms look at patterns from the past and can have inherent biases within them. It’s important we try and pinpoint where these biases occur and then begin to uncover where the unfairness lies. Therefore, some things are unmeasurable with algorithms alone and we need to consider the context and utilise social, human and machine together for better outcomes.
- Data enhances the customer experience
To provide the best possible customer experience, you need to listen to what your customers are telling you and act on this feedback. Make sure that you are using the data you have available to enhance the customer experience, bringing different sources together to build a full picture of your customer base. Standardise your data, not your customer!
- Don’t be afraid to throw away bad data
Data can be a driver or impediment to business success. Data can fall flat when decisions are based on poor quality data, and you can dilute the quality of data if it isn’t valid. Confidence in your data is essential, so don’t be afraid to throw away bad data!
- Cyber security is more important than ever
The pandemic has changed the game for data security. With more people than ever before working from home, and more companies embracing a work from anywhere culture, the cyber security landscape has shifted again. A cyber-attack can leave your business open and vulnerable and the devastating impact of an attack can take years to recover from.
Your staff are your first line of defence and it’s important they understand how to report anything suspicious and that there’s a cyber security policy you can share with them. Just like criminals work together, share intelligence with your employees and collaborate to fight against cybercrime. Our Information Security Forum delivers essential insight and information to protect your business from cyber threats. Find out more here.
- How do you embed data quality?
Commit to data quality, know your users and their needs, assess data quality throughout the life cycle, communicate data quality and anticipate changes. Ensure that you don’t have data silos and that you collaborate across teams to serve each other with good quality data that can help you to adopt a data-driven business organisation wide.
- Use data for social good
Data goes beyond just numbers and there’s a story behind it about real people. When utilising data, consider how you can use it to make your customers lives better and how these insights are relevant for these.
These are just some of the key learnings from 10 Days and there was a wealth of information packed into these sessions beyond a blog. If you’d like to find out about our other events that can help transform your business through data, tech and insights, discover more here – https://www.housemark.co.uk/events/.
If you’re ready to take the next stage in your data journey, take our data maturity quiz to find out your data persona and unlock next level learning. Access it here: https://mydatapersona.housemark.co.uk/